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Main difference between AL 1973-80 and 2012-20 is ND... by Scoop80

Had ND not been their consistent nemesis in the former period, the Tide's record would've rivaled their record in the latter period. Most everyone here knows that they went 0-4 v. ND in that span. Most don't know that they lost 3 games TO THE ENTIRE SEC during that span. They suffered more losses in 4 games v. ND than they suffered in 8 full conference seasons.

In the 4 seasons when AL lost to ND, they went 41-3 v. everyone else. They went 0-2 in bowls v. ND, and they went 6-0 in their other bowls (5 of which were majors). The wins were over the likes of JoePa (twice), Holtz, and Hayes. ND leapfrogged AL for the '77 NC after their Sugar thrashing of tOSU.

As it was, they earned an undisputed NC in '79 and a share in '78 (w/ USC-who beat AL but benefited from Coliseum officiating that year). Were it not for ND, they would''ve won an undisputed title in '73 and a share (w/ OU, who was on probation) in '74. They would've won an undisputed NC in '77. They likely would've had a shot at NC in Sugar v. UGA in '80.

Our AD was a student for the first 2 matchups. He presumably watched the others There were no discussions about "being in the conversation" back then. It was expected that ND could compete against top competition. A HC who was tolerated for 6 seasons at ND had a 2-0 record v. AL and aced them out for the NC in a 3d year. Moose Krause never lauded Dan Devine for earning participation trophies, nor did Devine expect to be so lauded.*

My expectations for tomorrow's are roughly similar to JVan's. My hope is that it will still be competitive at halftime. There's no rational basis to expect it to be competitive in the final 2:00. This program couldn't compete against AL 8 years ago, it never showed signs of being able to compete in the intervening 7 seasons, and it doesn't appear to be able to compete against AL tomorrow.

As someone who still vividly remembers '73-'80, I'm often fascinated by the continued appeal of this program to those who are under 50.

*Parseghian would've been insulted by the very mention of participation trophies